Connection device for railway rails



May 25,1926. 1,586,081

J. GANIME ET AL CONNECTIpN DEVICE FDR RAILWAY RAILS Filed May 7, @925Patented May 25, 1926.

UNITED STATES JOSEPH GANIME AND PETER GANIME, OF RUSSELLTON,PENNSYLVANIA.

CONNECTION DEVICE FOR RAILWAY RAILS.

Application filed May -7, 1925.. Serial No 28,584.

l are employed.

The invention is applicable both to ordinary railroad tracks and toindustrial railways, but is particularly useful in mines employingelectric locomotives for hauling the coal cars. It frequently happensthat acar in a mine will become derailed, and, being coupled to othercars will be dragged along with the flanges of the wheels at one side ofthe car held against the rail. This results in the wheel flanges cuttingthe rail bonds which afford the grounding connection for the minelocomotives. Sometimes there may be a number of bonds broken or cut.Destruction of a bond not only interferes with the free flow of currentto ground, but may also result in the burning out of the locomotivemotors. For instance, a locomotive may .pass from a poorly groundedsection of track to one that is properly grounded and the resulting rushof current may cause excessive heating and even destruction of themotor.

lVhile I have referred to the necessity of protecting the motors oflocomotives, the motors of pumps and mining machines are also groundedthrough the rails, and they likewise require protection against faultygrounding.

Even when a condition of faulty ground connection is found to existbefore serious damage occurs to the electrical apparatus, considerabletime and delay is required in locating the particular bond or bonds thatrequire repair, because of the darkness in the mines and numerous branchtracks, and by reason of the collection of coal or dust along thetracks, which obscures the bonds and necessitates cleaning away of thedirt at each joint by an inspector until he finds the faulty joint.

Our invention has for its object the provision of a bond and rail jointconnection so arranged that the bond will be protected from seriousinjury by the wheels of derailed cars or by falling objects.

One form which our invention may take is shown in the accompanyingdrawing wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of twoconnected rails to which our invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a View ofthe splice bar of Fig. 1 with the other parts removed; Fig. 3 is a viewshowing the side of the splice bar opposite to that shown in Fig. 1, andFig. 4C is a view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

The rails 5 may be of the usual form and connected by splice bars insomewhat the usual manner. Similarly a rail bond 7, which may be ofcopper, is provided with terminals 8 that may be secured to the rail inthe usual manner, care being taken to place the terminals as close tothe web of the rail as possible in order that they lie under the head ofthe rail and are therefore protected from contact with car wheels uponderailment of a car.

The splice bar ('3 may be rolled or forged in such manner thatprotuberances 9 and 10 extend outwardly therefrom in position tooverhang the cable 7 in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 4:. Forconvenience of manufacture and economy of material I prefer to form theprotuberances by displacing metal from the body of the bar, with theresult that recesses 11 and 12 are present opposite to the protuberances9 and 10, respectively. The recesses 12 may be con veniently availed ofin removing the splice bar 6, since the end of a lever can be insertedin the recess and the splice bar thereupon pried loose from its seat.

Spaces are provided between the protuberances 9 and 10 for the passageof track bolts 13 which hold the splice bars and rails in assembledposition. The heads of the bolts 18 are preferably cut away at theirundersides so that they not only afford better protection to the cable 7but will not be interfered with by the cable, in cases where the cableis disposed in a line immediately beneath the bolt holes. It will beapparent that if the bolt holes were in a higher plane, the heads of thebolts could be of the usual circular form.

It will thus be seen that when the cable 7 is placed in the positionshown, with. its terminals 8 bent inward toward the web of the rail,that substantially continuous protection is afforded throughout itslength, beginning with the tread of the rail at one end and continuingalong protuberances 10 and 9 and the bolt heads 13, to the oppositeterminal 8, where protection is afforded by the tread of the adjacentrail.

The protuberances not only protect the bond but also prevent the headsor nuts of bolts from sheared by the wheels of derailed cars. Bothsplice bars may obviously be provided with protuberances instead of onlythe bar 6, if desired.

lVe claim as our invention:

1. Rail bond protecting means comprising a splice bar having bolt holesand protuberances disposed adjacent to said bolt holes and in positionto overlie a rail bond.

2. Hail bond protecting means comprising a splice bar having bolt holesand protuberances disposed adjacent to said bolt holes and in positionto overlie a rail bond, the said protuberances being in substantiallylongitudinal alignment with said bolt holes.

3. A rail bond support and protecting structure con'iprising a splicebar having a base portion upon which the bond may rest, and providedwith overhanging por tions above said base portion, that portion of thebar to the rear of the overhanging portions having recessescorresponding in general outline to the form of said overhangingportions.

4. Rail bond protecting means comprising a splice bar having bolt holes,and protuberances disposed between said bolt holes in position tooverlie a rail bond.

In testimony whereof we, the said Josrrn GANIME and PETER GANIME, havehereunto set our hands.

JOSEPH GANIME. PETER GANIME.

